Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, born to parents who migrated from rural Louisiana at the start of WWII, is an author, poet, drum medicine woman, and ordained Zen priest. The essence of all her transmissions come together in her teachings including these books: The Shamanic Bones of Zen: Revealing the Ancestral Spirit and Mystical Heart of A Sacred Tradition, The Deepest Peace: Contemplations From A Season of Stillness, Sanctuary: A Meditation on Home, Homelessness, and Belonging, The Way of Tenderness: Awakening Through Race, Sexuality, and Gender (print and audio), Tell Me Something About Buddhism, and Black Angel Cards: 36 Oracles and Messages for Divining Your Life. She is contributing author to many anthologies including Dharma, Color, Culture: New Voices in Western Buddhism, Hidden Lamp: Stories From Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women. She holds a M.A. and a Ph.D. She is native Californian living in New Mexico. More at zenju.org.
Featured Audio Talk
July 18, 2021 - Engaging Whatever Arises
I didn’t write because I was interested in espousing my theories or perceptions. Writing has always been with me as a way of inquiry, as a way of looking and witnessing. The only way I feel I can witness is through writing. Then I look at the words and know that they may not be real. “Something’s not real about what you just wrote.” I asked myself that. Why did that come about? And I get to play with that. I don’t do the writing without the sitting. Writing is the meditation.